


drown me (you make my heart beat like the rain);

by mevies



Category: Descendants (2015), Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: F/F, I think it's good, everyone's in it - Freeform, harry & evie are step siblings and they are models!, it's a diner au, mentions of huma and i think jaylos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-02
Updated: 2018-08-02
Packaged: 2019-06-20 22:39:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15543705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mevies/pseuds/mevies
Summary: Evie really was just trying to return Mal her umbrella.





	drown me (you make my heart beat like the rain);

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I've been working on this story for like, actual months, and I only now managed to finish it. In the end, I don't know if I like it or if I like the ending, but I figured I might as well finish and post it now otherwise I probably would just forget about it. So, I hope you like this. This whole thing started because of John Mulaney's bit about the Salt and Pepper diner, and turned into its own thing. I genuinely hope this isn't as bad as I think it is. 
> 
> The disclaimer is the same as always, and I'd also like to note that I did read through this story like two times but if there are any mistakes... then just kindly look the other way. I tried. I really did.

It’s not the perfect job, or anything.

Like, okay, it’s not _terrible,_ and she gets to work with her best friend and some other people that she doesn’t _abhor_ , she gets to eat junk food for lunch like _every day –_ and yeah, okay, maybe that wasn’t the best, skin care products are kinda expensive and she feels lethargic when she stands up too fast, sometimes –, but like, it’s not the perfect job. It’s not so bad when she has to work half a day and the diner isn’t too crowded. But when it _is_ – it’s hellish.

Uma’s mom’s diner - _Ursula’s,_ named after the lady herself - is one of the classic spots around the city of Auradon. Adorned in soft colors and vintage decoration, the place had been opened before the girls were even born and remained the same – aside from a few needed upgrades in the kitchen and overall technical aspects of the restaurant – over the years. Adults, young adults, teenagers and kids – everyone loved the diner. It was never empty, and they had their share of regulars. So yeah, working at the diner wasn’t so bad – it felt a little like home, in a weird way.

(Even though Ursula was like, a week late with her payment. Mal doesn’t mind it too much, because she’s worked here since she started her sophomore year in Auradon High and even before then, being best friends with the woman’s daughter kind of meant Mal was considered a daughter of sorts and one of the oldest regulars at the diner, so really, it wasn’t an issue. She knew her payment was coming soon. It’s totally fine.)

So, yeah, it’s not like it’s a perfect job – she has to talk to people she doesn’t know, and be friendly, and when the sun is out and the day is warm, which is _always_ if you live in Auradon, the place is usually packed with people wanting their fix of _Ursula’s_ famous milk-shakes. During summer, it’s like Mal doesn’t even have one second to breathe. Luckily, there are about three more people working with her on those days, including her best friend, so there’s still some light at the end of the tunnel.

Today, though, it’s one of their slow days. It’s a little cloudy and it had rained a bit during the morning, which had been unexpected and surprising and had put Mal in a bit of a mood – it’s not that she doesn’t like cloudy and rainy, _she loves it_ , but cloudy days meant slow days at the diner, and slow days meant _boring_ days, and boring days meant Uma was doing exactly what she _didn’t_ want the girl to be doing.

She sighs for what feels like the tenth time in the last thirty minutes, closing her eyes tightly as she exhales sharply in annoyance as the opening lines of _Never Gonna Give You Up_ play through the jukebox machine Ursula refused to upgrade to an actual sound system.

Uma chuckles under her breath as she dries a tall glass from across the diner, and Mal sends her a seething glare.

“I fucking hate you.” Mal declares, and Uma only grins in response.

The girl knew Mal absolutely hated the catchy old tune, and she had made a point of saving up some coins from her tips over the week so she could play her _very_ elaborate and _extremely_ annoying prank on her blonde best friend. As soon as the blonde had arrived – fifteen minutes late, mind you -, she’d shaken her little pack with her coins and had made a show of feeding them all in the jukebox machine, grinning madly as she queued up the _same fucking song_ as many times as she could, Mal watching in complete terror and knowing there was nothing she could do about it.

So, yeah, it was like being in hell, sometimes.

“You know, this was meant to be a prank towards you only, but we got caught in the crossfire,” Carlos muttered, an annoyed look on his tanned and freckled face.

“We should kill her.” Mal responded, acutely aware they were talking about her best friend. Carlos chuckled lowly at that and shook his head.

“The music would still be playing.” He reasoned as he put the coffee machines to work.

“Very true.”

They worked side by side in silence for a while after that, Mal sending Uma heated glares whenever the same song started again, and as it neared 9AM, the costumers started walking in, needing their breakfast before facing their day.

Thankfully – for them, because Mal worked Saturdays – it was Friday, and even if the weather outside was showing clear signs of forming a storm for later, everyone’s dispositions seemed sunny enough.

As the customers settled at their tables or at the counter, Mal and Carlos watched as people started noticing the music playing on a loop – some seemed to find it funny, cracking a smile or singing along to the song, others, not so much. Some sighed in annoyance whenever the song started playing again and Mal deeply shared the sentiment.

After the eighth time the song had played, Mal had stopped feeling anything other than complete numbness, and she’d started working on automatic, trying her hardest to ignore the song playing over and over as she tried to keep her tone friendly enough as she interacted with the customers to get their orders.

Mal headed towards a table next to a window, where she could see two people were sat across from each other. A boy with short, messy brown hair and a distracting jawline nodded at her once she stopped next to their table and smiled politely, and Mal cleared her throat before saying, in her best unintentional lifeless robot impression,  “Good morning, welcome to Ursula’s, I’m Mal and I’ll be your waitress this morning. How can I be of service?”

“Hello, Mal,” The boy greeted, his voice deeper than she’d expected and laced in an accent she couldn’t quite place – definitely European, though -, “I’ll want a black coffee and – um,” He looked through the menu quickly, then looked up at Mal with a friendly smile, “what do ye recommend?”

Of course, just as he asked this, fucking _Never Gonna Give You Up_ started playing again and Mal closed her eyes and exhaled, before opening her eyes and zeroing on the boy’s expectant face, “I would never eat here.”

The boy raised his eyebrows at that, surprised at the unexpected statement, and Mal heard a snort from her right, where the boy’s companion was sitting. Feeling rude for not having addressed the other person, she turned and instantly was taken aback by the brunette beauty laughing quietly, her light brown eyes gleaming amusedly up at her. “Oh, she looked at me.” The girl teased, and Mal flushed.

“Um, sorry.” She scratched the back of her neck for a second, before licking her lips and then clearing her throat as she tried to shake the awkwardness off, “Um, the pancakes are really good. Forget what I said about not eating here, um – it’s just, _this fucking song_ -” She interrupted herself, sending the jukebox machine a glare. Turning back to the two _very_ attractive people sitting at the table she was supposed to be taking the orders of, she shook her head, “Sorry. Um, you’re having…?”

The boy smiled at her, clearly amused, and closed the menu as he handed it to her, “I’ll have the black coffee and those pancakes, thanks. What about ye, Ev?” He turned to the girl, and Mal prepared herself before looking at the attractive girl again.

The girl, Ev, looked at the menu once Mal turned to her, and the blonde thought she saw a little flush grow on the girl’s cheeks at being caught staring. “I’ll have the same.” She said after a few seconds, closing the menu and handing it over to Mal. The blonde nodded and scribbled their orders down on her little notepad and offered them a tight-lipped smile as the song kicked off to its chorus.

“I’ll be right back with your orders.” She said before she turned around, walking straight towards the kitchen window and slapping the paper with the order down, making Lonnie look up, startled.

“You good?” She asked once she saw Mal standing on the other side of the window. She turned back to what she was doing as Gil stirred up something loudly from behind her.

“I want to kill myself.” She responded, her arms crossed over her chest. Lonnie chuckled.

“Yeah, why’s that now?” She asked, washing some blueberries.

“Rick Astley put this song out in ‘87, and then 31 years later Uma was torturing me with it.” Mal groaned, and no matter what anyone said, she _did not_ pout. Lonnie snickered, but then she sobered up quickly once she realized Mal wasn’t the only one suffering.

“Yeah, I feel you.” Then, she looked up again as she settled a plate on the little window counter, “Table 7.”

Mal nodded and grabbed the plate, making her way towards the table and setting the order in front of an older woman.

“Enjoy your meal.” She said out of habit, and the woman gave her a small smile and thanks before Mal walked away. As Mal walked back towards the counter, she felt eyes on her and she turned slightly only to catch light brown eyes watching her before they turned back towards the boy in front of them. Mal flushed a little at the attention and grinned to herself.

“Need a refill?” She asked an older guy in a suit, who’d been scrolling through his phone. The man looked up at her and nodded, thanking her as the girl refilled his cup.

“Are you guys trying to promote this song or something? Because I think you’re about thirty years too late.” He asked, locking his phone, and Mal snorted.

“No, I wish we had an actual valid reason for this.” She responded, settling the coffee pot down. The man chuckled and shook his head, unlocking his phone once it lit up with a notification.

There was a ding from the kitchen window and Mal turned around, grabbing the order from the table with the attractive duo before she grabbed their cups of coffee and settled them on the black tray.  She walked towards them, willing herself to not be weird this time around, and started setting their orders down.

“Anything else?” She asked once she successfully avoided humiliating herself in front of them.

The boy shook his head no, but the girl opened her mouth as if she was going to ask for something. Mal turned to her and nodded to show her that she was listening. The girl licked her lips and smiled apologetically, “Um, can you like… change the song?”

At this rate, Mal wasn’t even absolutely sure how many times the song had played already – it felt like a lifetime, really. She couldn’t remember a moment in her life that _this_ wasn’t happening. She barely could remember that any other songs existed. She licked her lips – missing the way the girl’s eyes followed the motion – and shook her head as she gave the girl an apologetic smile that looked more like a grimace than anything else, “I’m sorry, I can’t, um, one of our staff members, Ursula’s spawn actually, is playing a prank on me. And well, everyone else, really, so we can’t like… turn it off.” Mal explained, motioning towards the jukebox with her hand, and the girl and the boy looked towards the far right of the restaurant, were the huge and bright machine stood proudly against a glass window.

The boy chuckled and Ev appeared to share his amusement. “Oh, well, at least it’s a classic.”

Mal snorted at that, “ _Classic,_ yeah, that’s a word for it.”

“What would _you_ call it, then?” Ev asked, setting her chin on her fist as she looked at Mal with interest and amusement.

Mal wondered for a moment if these two were like, models or something. They were beautiful and acted like they knew it – which, really, they should. Like, _wow_.

(Mal’s _very_ bi.)

“Right now? I’d call it cruelty.” Then she paused and squinted as if considering something, “And some other words, but it’s only 9AM and I’m not supposed to swear at customers, I’ve already broken that rule today.”

“You don’t look like you care about not breaking rules.” Ev countered, eyeing Mal up and down, from her dark sneakers to her ripped jeans and black shirt, both covered on the front by a light teal apron, her bleached blonde hair held back in a ponytail. With Mal’s entire outfit – save from the pastel apron, obviously - and her piercings, she knew she looked like the poster child of teenage rebellion or whatever, but like. Mal didn’t actually _care_ enough to break the rules at the diner, not only because Ursula was terrifying when she was angry, but also because it just wasn’t worth it – unless a customer was a downright pain in the ass, Mal didn’t feel the need for her usual snark. She keeps that for people from high school.

“Yeah, well.” She shrugged, eyeing a table that had been just occupied by a newcomer, she turned back towards the girl and her friend, who looked to be amused by their interaction for some reason, “Um, I gotta go. You guys enjoy your meal and let me know if you need anything.” 

The girl nodded, giving Mal a small smile that kinda made the blonde’s knees go weak. “Thank you, Mal, we will.”

Mal tried really hard not to think about how her name sounded coming from the girl’s lips.

-

About twenty minutes later, the 80’s classic was still playing overhead but the sound of the song was being slightly – and thankfully – overshadowed by the crack of thunder as a storm started. Patrons started rushing out, running towards their cars in order to make it to work before the rain got worse, and Mal watched as the guy from the attractive duo’s table stood up and rushed out of the diner, the hood of his jacket over his head as he ran towards the parking lot.

The girl stood a moment later and walked towards the counter, giving Mal a small smile. “Can I get the bill for my table, please?”

Mal nodded and fished her little notepad out of her apron’s oversized pocket, “Where’s your friend?”

“Oh, he had to run to make it in time for his appointment,” She said, looking out at the rain and biting her lip, “I’ll have to find a way to walk home and get my car in this rain, we walked here.”

“You live nearby?” Mal asked as she ripped the paper with the girl’s bill and handed it over to her.

“Yeah.” She said, looking down at the bill and opening her purse.

Mal frowned, “I’ve never seen you around here before.”

Ev smiled at her for a second before looking back down at her wallet, “I’m new in town. Well, Harry and I are new in town, our parents moved here because of work.”

“He’s your brother?”

“Step brother, yeah.” Ev nodded, picking up a few bills and smiling at Mal as she handed it to her. “It was nice to meet you, Mal.”

Mal nodded and watched as the girl made her way towards the diner’s door. She quickly snapped out of her trance once she realized the girl was about to walk home in the rain without anything to shield her from the water.

“Wait!” Mall calls out to her, making the brunette girl stop in her tracks and look back curiously. Mal reaches down and grabs the purple and green umbrella she had brought to work with her and walks towards the girl. She offers it to her with a small smile, “Take this.”

“Thank you,” Ev says, accepting the offered umbrella and then frowning, “But won’t you need it?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Mal shakes her head, nodding towards the parking lot, “I have my car with me. You can take this one, I don’t mind it. I’ll actually feel better if you take it.”

Ev nods and smiles, pulling the umbrella closer to herself. Mal gives her one last smile as she watches the brunette turn around again after thanking her one more time and leave the diner, Mal’s umbrella opened above her head and shielding her from the downpour outside.

Mal smiles to herself as she goes back to work, deciding that this day isn’t going as bad as she originally thought it would.

-

It’s nearing 10AM on that next Saturday when the doors of the diner open again, a few minutes after the latest customer had left. Mal looked up from the table she was serving and tried to fight her smile as Ev walked in, Mal’s green and purple umbrella in one hand as her other was hidden in her dark blue jacket’s pocket. The brunette caught her eye and gave her a small smile, walking further into the diner and towards one of the many vacant stools by the counter. Mal finished setting the orders on the table and walked back behind the counter and in front of the girl, trying to control her heart beat. There was no reason for her to be nervous.

“Ev, right?” she asks with a grin.

“Evie,” Evie corrected politely, “I came to return your umbrella.” She raises it as proof, and Mal grins. She was just about to say something when a ding was heard from behind Mal.

“Hold that thought, Yzma gets cranky if we don’t deliver her food right away.” Mal says before sliding a menu towards her, “Take a look at our menu.”

She turns and grabs the plate Lonnie had left in the small window and sets it on her tray, moving towards the table where the older woman was sitting, tapping away at her phone screen, her long fingernails against the screen being a distinct sound through the diner and over the soft music playing on the jukebox – thankfully, no Rick Astley today as Uma wasn’t here yet – and Mal sets the plate in front of the woman wordlessly.

“Took you long enough,” The woman grumbles, not looking up from her phone, and Mal rolls her eyes. Instead of answering the woman, she turns and makes her way back to behind the counter and in front of Evie.

“So,” She says as Evie looks up from the menu, and Mal tries not to get distracted by how incredibly pretty Evie is, “What are you having?”

Evie gives her a small smile as she puts the menu down, “Actually, nothing. I was just dropping by on my way to work. I wasn’t even sure you’d be working today.”

“I work almost every day during the summer.” Mal informs.

“Oh, I see. Is this your family’s diner?”

“My best friend’s mom’s, actually.” Mal answers, “Uma’s the one responsible for the Rick Astley situation yesterday, the fact her mom owns the place is the reason why we couldn’t just fire her for that.”

Evie chuckles, “I see.”

There’s a comfortable silence between them as Evie looks around, and Mal isn’t really sure of what she should say. Evie said she came here to return her umbrella, and that was it.

(Mal tries not to think too hard about the fact that she doesn’t want that to be it.)

“So, um… your umbrella,” Evie breaks Mal out of her thoughts by setting the umbrella on the counter. “Thank you for lending me it, by the way. Really saved me from a terrible cold.”

“No problem,” Mal says as she takes the umbrella and sets it down under the counter, “I’m glad I could help. Colds can be a bitch.”

Evie smiles and makes to stand, “Well, I should go.”

“You sure you don’t want anything?”

“No, no, thank you. I try not to eat too much before work.”

Mal frowns, “What do you do?”

“I’m a model,” She answers, “Well, Harry and I are.”

Mal nods. _Right._ Totally. She’s not even surprised. She totally guessed that from the first time she looked at them, seeing as they were two of the most attractive people Mal’s ever seen in her life.

But Mal doesn’t say that. Instead, she says, “Oh, cool. What are you modeling for today?”

Evie smiles, apparently pleased by Mal’s interest, and the blonde tries not to stare at how beautiful Evie’s smile is, “One of our favorite designer’s new line. If the shoot goes well, we might actually land the main runway event in a few months. We’re super nervous and excited about the opportunity, so I think if I had anything to eat beforehand I’d probably, um… be sick.”

She seems to catch herself on the beginnings of a ramble and trails off awkwardly, and Mal watches as she shyly looks down and shakes her head a little, as if embarrassed. Mal is quick to speak up, not wanting Evie to be embarrassed any longer.

“You’re both gonna kill it,” She tells her, “I can tell.”

Evie looks up at her with a teasing glint in her eyes and a small smile playing at the corner of her lips, “How?”

“I just can.” She shrugs, and she laughs when Evie rolls her eyes.

“Well, I have to get going so I can make it on time,” Evie says, standing from the stool, “Thank you again for loaning me your umbrella, Mal.”

The blonde girl feels a shiver run through her whole body at hearing her name coming from Evie, again, and she offers Evie a wink and a small smile as she watches the girl leave.

Evie, once again, is almost halfway to the door when Mal impulsively calls out for her again, stopping her in her tracks. She turns on her heels at the sound of her name, and she watches as Mal walks towards her, umbrella in hand.

“Maybe you should like, hold on to this.” Mal says, clearing her throat nervously, “The weather is looking a little cloudy today.”

Evie frowns. “It’s a clear day outside.”

“Yeah, but it’s a little chilly,” Mal insists, handing the umbrella to her more insistently, “You just keep this, just to be safe.”

“Thank you,” Evie says, accepting the umbrella, “You sure you don’t mind?”

“A hundred percent,” Mal gives one resolute nod, and then she continues, “And besides, I’m totally planning on getting it back.”

“Are you, now?”

“A hundred percent,” She repeats, and Evie chuckles. They stay silent for a second, until Mal breaks it again, “Good luck today with the shoot.”

Evie smiles brightly at her.

“Thank you, Mal.”

-

It’s nearing 8PM on that same Saturday when for the second time that day, Mal looks up to see Evie standing at the front door, making her way towards the same vacant stool she had sat on earlier that day.

Mal’s smile turns into a concerned frown when she notices the tired look on Evie’s face.

“Everything okay?” She asks carefully.

Evie slumps down on the stool, setting her purse on the stool to her right and then bringing her arms to the counter, resting her chin over her hands as she sighs tiredly, “I’m exhausted.”

Mal watches as she breathes in and out a few times before she opens her eyes and looks up at her, “This was the longest day I’ve ever had.”

“I got something that just might help,” Mal says quickly, and she barely notices it when Evie frowns, her chin still resting over her hands, as she turns around to leave.

It’s not long before she finds what she’d been looking for and is out of the kitchen and back behind the counter again, setting a small plate with one of Lonnie’s special cupcakes with chocolate chip cookies sitting on it. Mal stares at Evie expectantly as the brunette looks up at her confused.

“Cupcakes just make everything better,” She says it as a way of explanation. When Evie doesn’t look convinced, the blonde continues, “For real. And it’s double more effective if they have chocolate chip cookies, which, as you can see,” she points to the top of the cupcake, where Lonnie had made sure to sprinkle as many chips as possible, “this one has it covered.” She winks. Evie looks down at the cupcake again, and Mal pushes it closer to her, “C’mon, one bite.”

Evie takes her chin off her hands and sits up straight, eyes trained on the cupcake in front of her. Mal gives her an encouraging look when she looks up at her again, and then smiles when Evie peels the teal colored paper off the small cake and takes a pinch off it.

Mal chuckles when Evie’s eyes widen at the first bite, “This is so _good,_ ” She praises, already grabbing a bigger bite and closing her eyes when it’s in her mouth. Mal grins and leans against the counter with her arms resting on it, “Did you make this?”

As soon as Mal opens her mouth to answer, Lonnie herself steps out of the kitchen, her hair held back in a high bun, and Mal smiles at her friend when she stops beside her, opening the cash register. “Nope, this is all Lonnie’s work. I’m just the person shoving trays into ovens. Lonnie’s the real hero, right Lonnie?”

The Asian girl rolls her eyes and shakes her head as she counts the money in her hands before she turns to Evie, “Don’t let her fool you. Mal can really throw down in the kitchen,” She tells Evie, seriously, and Mal feels her cheeks warm. “She’s just lazy.”

“I’m not lazy, I just know you can do a better job than I could ever do.” Mal replies, her cheeks pink at the compliment in front of Evie, and Lonnie rolls her eyes again.

“You literally are unable to fool me.” Lonnie says, writing something on the notepad they kept inside the cash register and putting everything back in again before closing it and turning to Evie, “You’ll catch on.”

She winks at Evie and squeezes Mal’s shoulder before she walks back into the kitchen and Evie chuckles at Mal’s pink complexion.

“So that’s Lonnie.’” Mal says after a moment, still leaning against the counter.

“She seems nice.” Evie says as she takes another pinch from the cupcake in front of her. Mal watches her hands for a moment.

“She’s awesome.”  Mal replies absentmindedly.

“Careful there, Mal, or I might start to think you got a little crush.” There’s something besides teasing in her tone, and Mal’s eyes quickly snap to meet Evie’s, and the girl seems to be studying her reaction closely.

“No, um, I mean she’s awesome, but I, um…”

Evie’s eyes widen, “You’re not…? Oh, God, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to assume – “

Mal’s face, if that’s even possible, turns pinker and her eyes widen, “No, no! I am. Um, I mean, I like both.” She struggles to say, and Evie seems relieved at that information. Mal lets out a breath as she tries to organize her thoughts, “I’m not interested in Lonnie like that, but I’m definitely very bi, is what I meant to say.”

Evie gives her a smile, what looks like relief shining in her eyes, and Mal wills her face to go back to its normal color, “Okay. I’m sorry I made this awkward.”

“Don’t worry, it’s okay,” Mal waves her off, and they stay in silence for a small moment before Mal, again, feels like she has to break it, “So, anyway, I bet that’s the only thing you ate today since breakfast.”

Evie looks at her in surprise, “How did you know?”

“Call it an educated guess,” She shrugs.

“Good guess, because yeah, I’m starving.” Evie groans.

“Not enough time for food in your long day?”

Evie makes a face, “Nope,” she pops the ‘p’ as she shakes her head, “I literally had my whole entire make-up done four times, had to put on so many outfits… I mean, don’t get me wrong, this is my dream job, but I’m just…”

“…Exhausted?” Mal offers and Evie nods. “Understandable. But did everything in the shoot besides that work out okay? You mentioned it was an important one.”

Evie seems to light up a little at that, “Yeah, I think so. They seemed really pleased with the end results… Harry and I only heard good comments from the team and they said we’ll hear from them as soon as possible, so…”

“Well, there you go. Your exhaustion is the product of a good day’s work.” Mal says, and Evie smiles brightly at her, “For what is worth, I think you’ll get it. Both of you. They’d be stupid not to give you the spot.”

“You really think so?”

“I know so,” Mal says, leaning in closer. She doesn’t know where this need to reassure Evie is coming from, but she decides she just likes a smiling Evie better than a frowning one, “You’re like, crazy beautiful.”

Evie looks at her from under her eyelashes, a light blush on her face, and Mal thinks that this girl will be the death of her, “Me or Harry?”

Mal smiles, “Both. But especially you.”

Evie smiles brightly back at her, and Mal thinks that she’d gladly spend her entire night telling Evie how beautiful she thinks she is if the girl was going to look at her like _that_ every time, “Thank you, Mal.”

They look at each other for a moment in silence, and the sound of a clang in the kitchen breaks them out of their trance. Evie runs a hand through her hair and Mal diverts her attention to the empty plate sitting on the counter in front of Evie.

She grins, “I told you cupcakes make everything better.” She murmurs, and Evie laughs.

“Hate to break it to ya, but I don’t it was the cupcake, as good as it was.”

Evie gives her a smile that Mal hasn’t seen before – a new one, a special one – and Mal feels her entire body warm up and a fluttering begin in her stomach, and if Mal didn’t know any better, she’d just assume she had a fever.

But still, Mal tries to play it cool, “It was Lonnie, right? I told you she’s awesome.”

Evie throws her head back, laughing, and Mal like, really needs Evie to cool it with being… _you know_ , because dude, Mal might be halfway in love with her.

“Oh, totally.” Evie tells her.

“Gotcha.” There’s a beat, and then Mal straightens up, making Evie look at her curiously.

“Where are you going?”

“To get you some actual food,” Mal says, “I feel like Lonnie raised your expectations a little, so I have to make sure I live up to it.” She winks at her before she slips into the kitchen.

The first thing she sees when she walks in is the knowing look Lonnie gives her.

-

Mal’s sort of in a bad mood today. Okay, maybe she’s sort of in a bad mood every day, but she’s especially moody today. Lonnie and Carlos keep whispering about something, and she knows it has to do with her because they keep sending looks her way. Also, Ursula’s like, three weeks late with her payment, and gas money costs like, a fortune, so that’s also adding up to her bad mood. Not to mention that Uma’s shift was supposed to start like, 20 minutes ago, and the only thing the girl had said when Mal had texted her if she was coming for her shift or not was, “ _who’s gonna be there?”,_ and okay, maybe Mal _did_ find that a little funny, but _still._

If Uma doesn’t get here, she’ll have to cover _her_ shift along with her own, and that’s just not something she needs today.

And, granted, there was also a little extra that was adding up to her bad mood, but she didn’t want to say it just yet. She didn’t want to admit it to herself, or to anyone, that maybe the biggest reason why she feels like digging a hole in the parking lot pavement and jumping in is the fact that Evie hasn’t been around in three days.

She doesn’t admit it when she almost snaps her neck to look at the front entrance when she catches brown hair coming into the diner, only to glare when she sees Jay’s red beanie covered brown hair falling over his school hoodie. She looks back down at the money she’s pretending to count – ‘cause that’s Uma’s job for today – and ignores Jay’s confused frown and Carlos’ chuckle under his breath.

She doesn’t admit it when she overhears Jay curiously asking what’s going on and doesn’t admit it when Lonnie and Carlos include Jay in their whispering – Mal’s even surer than ever now that the whispering is about her. And considering Lonnie is involved, she’s pretty sure of just _what_ they’re whispering about.

“What’s up, beautiful people and Mal?” Uma greets loudly about ten minutes later, walking in with a huge smile on her face and her apron hanging over her shoulder.

“Did you take that home?” Mal asks, ignoring her best friend’s jab and closing the cash register as she focuses her attention on her.

Uma nods, “I forgot I had that on me when I left last night.” She said, tying it behind her neck. “What did I miss?”

“The first thirty minutes of your shift, for starters.” Carlos stated before Mal could, and Uma chuckles, “What was the hold up, by the way?”

“Just didn’t wanna come.” Uma responds as she walks around the counter and stops beside Mal, who rolls her eyes at the response while Carlos laughs. “How’s the movement?” Uma asks, looking around the empty diner.

“Slow, but we only just opened.” Then, he looks at his wrist watch and groans, “And it’s only 7:30.” The others, minus Uma, chorus his groan.

“Lighten up guys; this will be a long day of work.” Uma says as she opens the cash register and starts counting last night’s money.

“You didn’t even want to be here in the first place.” Mal rolls her eyes.

“But I’m here, am I not?” Uma replies, pulling out the small notepad and looking over it, “Now twist that frown upside down before your girlfriend comes in and sees you moping like that. It’s not attractive.”

At Mal’s frown, Uma stops her counting and turns to her with a teasing glint in her eyes, “What? I was late to the shift but not to the gossip.”

Mal groans.

Another thing to add to her list of things that got her in a bad mood.

-

Things take a drastic turn that afternoon when the front door of the diner opens for what felt like the hundredth time that day and Evie walks in with a smile on her face, the same smile that grows on Mal’s face at the sight of Evie after three days of not seeing her, and the small exchange is enough for everyone to understand the reason behind her earlier bad mood – actually, to confirm their theories, because they pretty much knew what was going on.

Evie walks towards the same stool she had sat previously – right in front of Mal – and they look at each other with smiles on their faces before Mal grabs a chocolate cupcake Lonnie had previously given her to try and lighten her mood and sets it in front of Evie wordlessly, smiling when Evie grins and promptly takes a bite.

“It’s Nutella,” She tells her, “Nutella makes everything better.”

“There’s no denying that.” Evie agrees with a smile, and then she stops, as if catching herself, “Hi.”

“Hi yourself, stranger,” Mal smiles, “On your way to work again?”

“No, I…” She trails off, flushing a little, and then she raises something Mal hadn’t noticed she was carrying, “I came to return your umbrella.”

Mal feels something inside of her stir, and she has to try and stop herself from smiling like a maniac, instead she only gives Evie a small smile and tells her to enjoy the cupcake as she turns to a new customer. She only half notices it when Carlos asks Evie if she’ll be having lunch and she says yes and orders a salad. Mal makes a mental note to throw in some special fries on the house when she goes back to the kitchen for orders.

The blonde doesn’t really have a lot of free time to stop and talk to Evie once the lunch hour rush starts, but she makes a point to offer her a smile whenever their eyes meet when she’s leaving the kitchen with a hot dish in hand. Evie is slowly eating her salad, as if she has time to spare, and Mal feels a little excited about the prospect of spending more time with the brunette.

One by one, the customers start to leave as the rush hour comes to an end, and there’s a lull in the previously hectic and noisy diner. The talks are now more hushed, and they can hear the song playing through the jukebox with more clarity. Mal sighs tiredly as she walks over to Evie and leans over the counter.

“As you can see,” She says, “Things can get pretty hectic around here.”

“Well, you guys seem to have it under control.” Evie notes as she watches Carlos laughing with an elderly man a few steps ahead of them.

“That’s Old Joe,” Mal tells her, “He’s a regular. He used to come here with his wife, but she passed last year. He owns the Pet Store downtown so Carlos has a special friendship with him.”

Evie nods, watching the curly haired boy make the old man laugh. It’s a cute scene. “Do you guys know them all?”

“Who?”

“Your customers.”   

“Just the regulars,” Mal says, “We pretty much grew up here, so it’s kinda hard not to know everyone. See that woman over there? That’s Mrs. Potts. She makes the _best_ pastries in town. She brings some over to us whenever she can, and the boys sometimes take her son to play basketball with them on the weekends.”

“That’s really cute.” Evie says, smiling softly, and Mal nods. She thinks so too, even though she’ll never say it out loud. She thinks the image of Gil and Chad taking turns on carrying Little Chip on their shoulders so he could reach the hoop was one of the best things she’s ever seen in her life. 

“More coffee?” Mal offers.

Evie shakes her head, “I should really go. Harry and I have a meeting with our agent in an hour.”

“Ah, I see.” Mal smirked, “Model duty calls.”

“Something like that.” Evie giggled. “But, um, well – I’m yet to use it again, but thanks for this,” She says, standing and holding the umbrella up. Mal grins at her, her eyes twinkling.

“I think it’s going to rain today.” She states. Evie grins.

“Is that so?”

“Uh-huh. I saw it on the news this morning and everything.”

“Funny, I watched the news this morning and I don’t think I heard that,” Evie answers wryly.

“That’s funny. Because they said it would storm today. I heard it very clear.”

“A storm, huh? So I guess it’s my best interest to keep this,” She says, raising the umbrella with a giddy smile, “Just in case.”

“Absolutely.” Mal nods.

“So I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“I’ll be here.”

-

Mal never really lets Evie return her umbrella; always giving her a new reason to keep it with her. She’d say “it’s too hot outside,” or “the weather feels electric”, or even, “the weather man said there would be a thirty two per cent chance of a shower today.”

She knows they’re stupid, and so does Evie, but she can’t find it in herself to stop – and Evie doesn’t seem to want her to, either. They enjoy this easy banter between them, almost as if it’s an inside joke.

It’s on Evie’s tenth attempt to return it that it happened.

It was a Thursday afternoon; the sun was beginning to set and Mal had just exited the kitchen, shaking her head in amusement as Uma’s laughter trailed after her as she watched Lonnie try to teach Jay how decorate a cupcake when Evie walked into the diner. Mal’s smile widens as the brunette takes her usual seat and grabs a menu off the stack.

“Hello,” Mal greets, “Here to return the umbrella?”

Evie nods, holding up the umbrella as always, a grin on her face. “And also dinner. Harry’s been sleeping off a cold all day so I was bored and I thought I’d drop by.”

“Ouch, so we’re your second option?” Mal teased, pretending to be offended, and Evie rolled her eyes.

“Shut up, that’s not what I meant.”

“How’s Harry?” Mal asks, winking to show her she was just kidding, and Evie gives her a smile.

“He says he’s dying, but the doctor said he’ll be fine in two days’ time. It’s just a regular cold.” She rolls her eyes. Mal chuckles.

“Seems dramatic.”

“Harry’s the _most_ dramatic. I always thought I was pretty bad, but he’s got me beat. I swear, he can be the most annoying person when he wants to be. Just yesterday I had to change the channel for him like ten times because he was ‘too weak to do it himself’ and mom would get mad at me if she thought I wasn’t helping him while he’s sick. I mean, I love my brother, but he – you’re laughing.”

“No, no, I’m not. I promise, it’s just –“ Mal pauses, giving Evie a grin, “you’re cute when you get worked up.”

“I am?” She asks, surprised. “I mean, Harry says it’s funny, but I never thought it was _cute_ funny. My friend Audrey says I sound like my mother when I get like that, because of the accent and all –“

“Evie.” Mal cuts in, amused.

“Mm?”

“You gotta learn how to take a compliment.”

“Oh, sorry,” Evie flushes, “Usually I’m better at taking compliments, I swear. Just had an off day because _Harry –“_

“Evie.” Mal chuckles, and the brunette seems to catch herself and chuckles with her. “So, what will you have?”

“The usual, please.” She says, and Mal nods before scribbling down Evie’s usual order down on her notepad and ripping the page before turning around and slapping the order down on the kitchen window, chuckling when it makes Lonnie jump and look up at her from where she’d been trying to salvage the cupcake that Jay ruined.

Turning back to Evie, she smiled and was about to start conversation when Uma stepped out from the kitchen. “Oh, if it isn’t Mal’s favorite regular.”

Evie looked up at her with a shy smile as the blonde rolled her eyes at her friend. Evie seemed to notice it.

“I take it you’re the Uma I’ve heard so much about?” Evie questioned, and Mal watched as her best friend took a step closer to them and leaned over the counter, her smile still in place.

“That I am.” Uma smirked, “Mally here talk a lot about me?”

Mal cringes at the nickname and she flushes when she hears Evie chuckling at it, “You could say that. But I get it, I talk a lot about Harry as well.”

“Harry?” Uma asks curiously, and Evie nods.

“My brother.” She says, and Uma and Mal smile a little at the implication of Evie considering them sisters. (Which frankly, was not very far from the truth.)

“Oh, was that the cute boy that was with you that first day?” Uma asks, interested, and Evie smiles and nods.

“That’s him.” She says, and then, “I’ll have to let him know he’s got an admirer.”

Mal chuckles in amusement as Evie and Uma exchange teasing grins, weirdly warm at the fact that they were getting along, “You should probably bring him around more often.” Uma winks, and Mal admires her for her bravery.

“Oh, for sure.” Evie nods, and Uma chuckles. Before she could say anything else, a customer walks in and Uma sighs before she excuses herself.

“So, that’s Uma.” Mal says, and Evie chuckles.

“I like her, she’s funny.” And then she leans in as if to confide something, “Don’t tell her, but Harry thought she was cute, too.”

“We should set them up,” Mal says, only half kidding, and Evie lights up.

“Oh, we should!” She agrees excitedly and Mal chuckles at her reaction.

Before she could say anything else, Lonnie rings the bell signaling an order was ready and she turns around to grab Evie’s order before setting it in front of the brunette. “Evie’s special, enjoy.”

Evie shakes her head as she chuckles in response.

The brunette stays until it’s almost time to close up. She talks to Mal about anything that comes up while the girl works, and when the blonde is busy with a customer, she looks back from time to time to catch the brunette either watching her or talking to Uma, Lonnie or Jay, whom she had met a few moments after she met Uma.

The brunette is in the middle of telling her about her friend Audrey while Mal listens to her intently as she wipes down the counter when the latest customer leaves. Interrupted by the distraction, Evie looks at the time on her phone and raises her eyebrow.

“I guess I should get going. I walked here and it’s getting late.” She says as she reaches to the stool next to her for her purse.

Mal is about to open her mouth to give her another excuse the moment Evie holds up the umbrella for her to see when the crack of thunder startles them both.

The blonde laughs.

“It’s raining.” She tells her as if it’s not obvious, as if it’s the funniest thing in the world. Evie seems to share her amusement as she grins.

“I guess I’ll have to see you tomorrow.” She shrugs.

Mal looks out the window, assessing the darkening sky. She turns to Evie, then, a smile on her face.

“I’ll walk you home.”

“You’ll… what?” Evie asks dumbly, and Mal’s already taking off her apron.

“Guys, I’ll be back in a few to help close up.” Mal calls out through the kitchen window, and Uma and Lonnie give her knowing smiles as Jay eyes the time on his watch.

“Take your phone with you and ring me if you need, okay?” He says, and the blonde nods and smiles at him. Jay had always been the protective friend, always offering to walk them home or give them rides when they were walking home, and when they were with their vehicles he was the friend asking them to text him when they got home.

Mal grabs her jacket from under the counter and shrugs it on before she grabs her phone from her back pocket and puts it under her jeans’ waistline and hides it under her shirt. She pretends not to notice it when she catches Evie looking at the brief show of the skin of her stomach.

She steps out from behind the counter and her fingers brush against Evie’s as her hand slides down her wrist to grasp the handle of the borrowed umbrella in the brunette’s hand.

“Let’s go,” Mal says, grabbing Evie’s hand and intertwining their fingers as she pulls the girl out the door.

-

“Is this how you lure in your regulars?” Evie asks teasingly after there’s a lull in their conversation as they walk side by side on the sidewalk under the shelter of Mal’s umbrella. “By loaning umbrellas?”

Mal laughs, and the side of her body brushes against Evie’s as they lean close to each other, “Only the special ones.” She answers, catching the brunette’s light brown eyes turned dark in the night and reflecting the lights from the street they were walking on. They both look away after the exchange of glances, small smile on their faces as they fall into comfortable silence.

“You gotta admit,” Mal says after a moment, looking back at Evie with a teasing grin on her face, “It’s a pretty effective method.’

Evie doesn’t say anything, only leans closer to the blonde once the rain picks up in silent agreement.

-

Evie becomes a regular.

Mal sees the girl almost every day, on the brunette’s free days and the busiest ones, too. The brunette becomes friends with her friends, and when Mal can’t be the one to greet her when she walks in and take her order, it’s usually whoever else is working with her that day. Sometimes Evie will bring Harry with her, and the boy will spend most of his time there flirting with an equally flirty Uma. Mal thinks they’d be cute together, and Evie seems to agree with her.

When Evie comes to the diner after a long day of shooting and modeling, Mal will have a cupcake or a random dessert she had prepared just for her waiting on the counter, because the blonde likes it when Evie’s eyes light up and she smiles, even if tiredly, because of something Mal’s done.

“You’re really good at this,” Evie compliments once as she takes a bite from a blondie the girl had prepared for her, “Your desserts are amazing.”

“Thanks, E.” Mal smiles sheepishly before shrugging, “But it’s really a team effort with the people at the kitchen.”

“Mal.” Evie shakes her head, smiling amusedly.

“What?”

“You gotta learn how to take a compliment.” She says, teasingly, and Mal chuckles when she realizes the girl’s throwing her own words back at her.

“Well played, Evie,” She says, smirking, “Well played.”

“Thank you.” The girl smiled, and then, “By the way, you were right.”

The platinum blonde raises an eyebrow at her, and Evie continues, “Blondies do make everything better.”

She winks, and Mal has an inkling feeling she wasn’t just talking about the dessert.

-

“I’m leaving the country in two days,” Evie says as a greeting one day, and Mal looks up at her in shock and panic before the brunette seems to have realized what she said and she shook her head quickly, “Oh, God, not for good – sorry. I worded that wrong. My family and I are going on a trip to Scotland in two days to visit Harry’s grandma for her 80th birthday.” She explains, and Mal lets out a relieved breath.

“That sounds nice.” Mal says, her voice surprisingly calm after almost having a heart attack. Evie nods. “How long will you be gone for?”

“A week, I think.” The girl sighs.

“What’s wrong?” Mal frowns.

“I wish I could stay here,” She admits, and Mal feels her eyebrows rising in surprise, “Not with you. I meant, like, _here,_ at home… alone. Not like, _here_ , at the diner with you and your friends or anything. That’d be crazy.”

Mal refuses to look at her as she says, “Not _that_ crazy.”

“It’s not?” Evie asks dumbly.

“Yeah, I mean, if you were all alone for a whole week without Harry or your parents… it wouldn’t be that crazy.”

“Oh. Right.”

There’s silence between them for a moment before Mal picks up at the beginning of the conversation, “You don’t like Harry’s family?”

“Oh, I do! No, I love them, _really_. His grandma is the sweetest woman,” She shakes her head, giving Mal a small smile.

“Then why…”

“I’m just gonna miss… um, home.” Evie says, before she gives Mal a teasing grin, “There’s this diner that I’m quite fond of.”

Mal feels her heart beat faster, “Yeah?”

“Mhm,” Evie nods, “There’s this girl that works there that gives me free sweets every day.”

“That seems like a cool place.” Mal nods, playing along, and the brunette nods again.

“Oh, yeah, it’s the best.” She says, “I’m really gonna miss it while I’m in Scotland.”

Mal catches the underlying words, “I’m sure the place will miss you as well.”

Evie gives her a soft smile, and Mal smiles back. They look at each other for a moment in silence before Mal speaks up.

“But I’ll see you when you get back, right?” She drops all pretenses to ask, and Evie gives her a look that she doesn’t quite understand.

“You’ll be around, right?” Evie responds with another question, her tone almost cautious, and Mal nods as she gives her a grin.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Evie grins. “Then yes,” she nods, “You’ll see me when I get back.”

-

A week went by surprisingly fast – Mal thinks their friends noticed her and Uma had been pretty bummed because of the model siblings’ absence, and they had made sort of a deal with Ursula that week to ease up on the working hours and pay them early that month, so they could make as many plans as possible during their free time to distract the girls. And it was fun. It was. _But._

But Mal missed Evie. She missed the girl’s smile, and her voice, and listening to her talk about her work and everything else, and just her presence. The blonde hated it when she looked at Evie’s usual spot during working hours and saw someone else there, or no one at all.

She’s only half embarrassed to admit she’s counting down the hours until she gets to see the girl again, and it’s only natural that she gets up that Friday morning with a huge smile on her face, even though it’s only half past 5AM and she had to open the diner, because she knew that it was only one more day before Evie got back from her trip.

She didn’t exactly expect to see the girl before Monday, though, knowing that she would probably be tired from her travel and would probably take the rest of the weekend to rest, but it was enough to know that the girl was on the same time zone as her and only minutes away.

So, to say she’s surprised (and incredibly happy) to see Evie leaning against the front door of the diner, a small smile on her lips as she watches Mal approach with an ever-growing smile on her own face would be an understatement. Evie’s light brown eyes look like honey in the early morning sunlight and Mal thinks Evie looks even more beautiful than she remembers.

“We’re not open for service yet,” Mal greets teasingly, and Evie chuckles.

“I know,” Evie says, “I’m quite familiar with the working hours.”

Mal chuckles at her, and then, “You’re back early.”

“Harry and I had to come back earlier than planned, we came back last night.” Evie tells her, “Remember that runway event I told you about a while ago?”

“With the important designer?”

“That one.” Evie nods, and then her smile widens, “We got it.”

“Shut up!” Mal exclaims, her whole face lighting up as she reaches over to pull the girl into her arms, as she laughs and squeezes her, “I told you you’d get it!”

Evie grins when they part ways, “Anyway, I’m here at this hour because Uma told Harry that you’d be opening today and I really wanted to tell you as soon as possible and I realized I didn’t have your number to text you the news, so… here I am.”

“Here you are.” Mal says, and she grins widely, “You’re here.”

“I am,” Evie giggled, amused, her brown eyes warm and comfortable and –

 _And_ Mal couldn’t help herself or hold herself back - she pulled the girl back in and kissed her.

Mal doesn’t know what she was expecting, but whatever it was, it certainly succeeded her expectations. It starts with a light press of their lips, and then Evie pulls away for a millisecond before she dives in again, the fingers of her left hand weaving through Mal’s hair while her right pulls her closer by the waist. Mal’s arms are wrapped around the brunette’s neck as they kiss, their bodies impossibly close together as their lips move in sync.

Evie’s lips are incredibly soft and they taste like coffee and lip-gloss, and Mal’s instantly addicted to it, and her chest screams for the air she refuses to part ways to take in.

It’s only moments later that she realizes she can’t ignore her lungs anymore, and they part ways, completely breathless and panting and looking at each other like they’re seeing the other for the first time.

Evie chuckles, and bites her lips, and then she leans in again and pecks Mal lips one, two, three times before pulling away again and bumping Mal’s nose with hers.

“Don’t you have to open the diner?” She asks lowly.

“Yeah,” Mal nods, her forehead touching Evie’s.

“You should get to it.”

“Okay,” Mal says, grinning as she wraps her arms around her waist, pulling Evie closer to her as she breathes her in. Evie smells like flowers and something that’s distinctly her own scent, and Mal is obsessed.

“Okay,” Evie chuckles, sliding her hand from Mal’s neck to her shoulders.

“By the way,” Mal starts as she slides her arms up her back and towards Evie’s shoulders and then over her arms until she reaches the hands that are on her own shoulders and grips them, removing them from where they rest and bringing them down until they’re holding their hands between their bodies. “Is this how you get girls to fall in love with you? Pretending to need umbrellas?”

Evie laughs as Mal grins at her, and the brunette pulls against her hand slightly as she makes to turn around so Mal can unlock the door of the diner. “Only if she’s special.”

“And what if she’s _really_ special? Do you show up at her place of work at 6AM on a Friday after you just got home from an international flight just to give her good news you could’ve waited a few more hours to tell her?”

Mal feels Evie’s eyes on her then, and she gives her a teasing smirk and a wink before unlocking the door. Evie leans down and gives the side of her forehead a soft peck.

“You gotta admit,” She says, her own smirk on her lips as they step into the diner, hands clasped together, “it’s a pretty effective method.”

And like -

Working at the diner is not the perfect job, or anything.

Like, okay, it’s not terrible, and she gets to work with her best friend and a bunch of her other friends, she gets to eat junk food for lunch like every day – and yeah, okay, maybe that wasn’t the best, skin care products are kinda expensive and she feels lethargic when she stands up too fast, sometimes –, but like, some of the customers are pretty cute – _one customer in particular_ – and she gets to call them her girlfriend – _again, one customer in particular_ -, so it’s really not so bad. Could be worse.

So yeah, working at the diner wasn’t so bad – it felt a little like home, in a weird but kinda awesome way.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments make me happy! I hope you guys have a great Friday and a great weekend! 
> 
> PS. Come talk to me @ evies-grimhildes on tumblr if you feel like it. I like talking about headcanons and discussing fic ideas. Also I'm nice.


End file.
